It’s day 3 of the New Year and Day 3 of your new regime.  Motivation is high, but for how long?

Following a new fitness regime is tough.  Hell, making any sort of major lifestyle change is difficult no matter what your goal is.  Even if you plan to commit to taking positive steps outside of your health, like your career, it’s going to take a big effort and a whole heap if grit and determination to get there.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it takes on average 66 days for something to become a solid habit.  So only 63 days to go and counting!

Along the way your motivation is going to ebb and flow.  This is totally normal and all part of the process you’re going to have to go through.

It’s time to suck it up and battle through it.

But it’s not all about ‘manning up’ and getting on with it.  That’s not really a strategy that helps.  Yes, it sounds cool but I think you’ll agree it’s not particularly helpful.

What’s the best way to deal with that dip in motivation?

You’re sat on the sofa dressed head to toe in Gymshark gear, sipping on a bright pink pre-workout drink, hoping that the rush of caffeine and those Beta-Alanine tingles will kick your ass into gear and get you moving.

But you succumb to the call of the Game of Thrones box set and before you know it several hours have gone by and you’ve not moved an inch.

In my own experience the answer comes from the thoughts you’ve been having in the last few days.

You set yourself a goal for a reason.  That New Years Resolution didn’t get plucked out of thin air.  It was the result of something you felt inside.  Something you believed needed to be changed for the better.

When your motivation starts to take a nose dive, remember why you’re going to the gym.  Remember why you’re trying to stick to those daily calories.

Pause for a moment and think about it RIGHT NOW…

That’s your ‘WHY’.  Get there clear in your mind.  Write it down.  Stick it on the fridge where you’ll see it every day.  Get in ingrained in your mind so it becomes the stronger thought over and above anything negative.

If you know what your WHY is then you can recall it when you start to hit that brick wall.  You’ll find that this’ll be a far better motivational kick in the ass than the preworkout drink!

As well as your WHY, make sure you get in the mindset of just doing.  It sounds like I’m a Nike salesman, but ‘JUST DO IT’.  Drag your ass to the gym if you have to.  Just get in the car and go.  You might not have the best workout of your life, but you WILL be moving forward and you will be making progress.

Execute.  Execute. Execute.

That’s the name of the game.

Spring forward to the end of those 66 days when the habits have formed and dealing with these fluctuations in motivation become that bit easier to deal with.

They’ll still happen.  Even for someone like me who’s got deep routed habits.  There’s definitely days when I don’t want to put in a 14 hour day, writing articles and researching stuff for the website.  I love what I do.  It’s just human nature.

On these days, I just sit myself in front of the computer and just start.  Just get the fingers moving on the keyboard and the groove starts to come naturally.

The gym is no different.  Get yourself to the gym and sit yourself under that bar.  You’ll instantly find the motivation to press that thing in the air.  And you know what, you’ll feel 10 times better for the experience too.

So the moral of this post is, remember why you’re doing whatever it is you’re struggling to motivate yourself to do.  Then just force yourself to do it.

Game of Thrones will still be there when you get back.

Stay hungry guys and keep up the daily grind!

#THEDAILYGRIND

Simon